born Feb. 14, 1824, Montgomery county, Pa., U.S.
died Feb. 9, 1886, Governor's Island, N.Y.
U.S. general and politician.
He graduated from West Point and served in the Mexican War. Appointed a brigadier general of volunteers at the start of the American Civil War , he became a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac (1863–65) and served with distinction at the Battle of Gettysburg . After the war he commanded the military division of Louisiana and Texas. For his insistence that the region's civil authorities be maintained in their "natural and rightful dominion," he won the support of Democrats, who nominated him for president in 1880. He lost the election to James Garfield .